The Macedonians Dispute with the Party of Acacius

At this time the followers of Macedonius, among them Eleusius, Eustathius and Sophronius, who now began to be openly called Macedonians, as a separate sect, took a bold step after the death of Constantius. They called together those of their own views who had met at Seleucia and held several councils. They condemned the party of Acacius and the faith that had been laid down at Ariminum, and they confirmed the doctrines that had been set out at Antioch and afterward approved at Seleucia. [a] They were asked why they had fallen out with the party of Acacius, with whom they had once held communion as people of the same views. They answered through Sophronius, a bishop of Paphlagonia. The Christians in the West, he said, held to the use of the term “of one substance,” while the followers of Aetius in the East upheld the teaching that the Son is unlike the Father in substance. The first party, by their use of the term “of one substance,” wrongly wove the distinct Persons of the Father and the Son together into one, while the second party made the relationship between the nature of the Father and that of the Son too different. But they themselves kept the middle way between the two extremes and avoided both errors, by faithfully holding that in hypostasis the Son is like the Father. It was by explanations such as these that the Macedonians defended themselves against blame. [b]